Malaysia bans messianic Islamic sect<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
\nMohamad vowed \"to break up their communes\" if a radical Islamic
\nsect, outlawed by his government on Friday, continued to teach
\nits \"deviationist\" brand of Islam.<\/p>\n
Al Arqam, a mystical Sufi sect that believes a messiah is
\ncoming soon before a prophesied doomsday, can no longer run its
\nmany businesses and schools or spread its teachings under a
\ndecree issued by the National Fatwa Council.<\/p>\n
Many of the sect's estimated 100,000 followers live in 48
\ncommunal villages spread throughout Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"If they continue to teach this wrong teaching we will have to
\nput a stop to it,\" Mahathir told reporters after a meeting of the
\npolicy-making body of his ruling party, the United Malays
\nNational Organization.<\/p>\n
\"If we have to break up their communes we will do that,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The government will use a battery of laws, including the
\nSecret Societies Act, the Education Act, the Trade Act and the
\nPrinting Presses and Publication Act against the sect.<\/p>\n
The ban makes it illegal for Malaysia's Moslems, about half
\nthe population of 19 million, to own, print or sell any of Al
\nArqam's literature, films, audio cassettes, posters,
\nadvertisements or other materials.<\/p>\n
Under the decree, which is binding only for Moslems, Al Arqam
\nwill have to shut down more than 200 schools it operates in
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
The mini-markets, farms, food-processing factory and other
\nbusinesses it owns can no longer carry the sect's logo. Al Arqam
\nclaims assets of more than 300 million ringgit ($115 million).<\/p>\n
\"They can't stop us from holding classes in our homes or under
\na tree. They can't stop us from reciting the Koran,\" an Al Arqam
\nspokesman said.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, who last month described the sect as a threat to
\nnational security, said the government had to act because the
\ngroup's leader, Ashaari Muhammad, had become a cult-like figure.<\/p>\n
Mahathir compared him to Jim Jones, whose followers committed
\nmass suicide in Guyana in the 1970s, and David Koresh, the Branch
\nDavidian leader who died, along with many of his followers, in a
\nshootout and ensuing fire at his commune in Waco, Texas.<\/p>\n
Defamation suit<\/p>\n
\"It has gone so far that he considers himself a prophet. He is
\nlike our friends Koresh and Jones,\" Mahathir said. \"They are
\nlikely to mislead their followers to the point they may commit
\nsuicide or do harm to themselves.\"<\/p>\n
An Al Arqam lawyer filed a defamation suit on Friday against
\nthe director of the Islamic Center, the government's division of
\nIslamic affairs.<\/p>\n
It alleges the Islamic Center falsely accused Al Arqam of
\nhaving an army in Thailand. The spokesman said Al Arqam would
\nprobably file another suit challenging the ban.<\/p>\n
Malaysia began a public campaign against the sect two months
\nago, saying it was training several hundred suicide warriors in
\nBangkok. Thailand has denied the claim.<\/p>\n
The National Fatwa Council, a group of Islamic scholars
\nappointed by the king, listed a dozen reasons why the group
\nshould be banned.<\/p>\n
Among them was a charge that Ashaari claimed to have had a
\ndialog with the Prophet Mohammad. \"This crumbles the main
\nfoundation of Islam because it means that the Koran and Hadis are
\nnot yet finished and complete,\" the council said.<\/p>\n
\"They are the biggest threat faced by the government since the
\ncommunist threat,\" Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
\nHamid Othman told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n
He said police would have full powers to enforce the ban.
\nReligion ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations failed on Thursday to agree on a joint stand to ban the
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
A statement issued after a two-day meeting in the Malaysian
\nresort of Langkawi said merely that Indonesia, Singapore and
\nBrunei had barred Ashaari from traveling there.<\/p>\n
Fundamentalism -- Page 11<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-bans-messianic-islamic-sect-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }